Lasting boots and shoes



(No Model.)

W. O. GROSS.

LASTING BOOTS OR SHOES.

No. 337,483. Patent ed Mar. 9, 18861 N4 PETERS, Fhaluillhngmphar. Washmgtun, D. C.

NITE STATES PATENT Enron...

WILLIAM C. GROSS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LASTING BOOTS AND SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,483, dated March 9,1886. Application filed December 29, 1885. Serial No. 187,015. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. ORoss, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lasting Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention is an outgrowth of the improvement in lasting boots and shoes described and shown in my Letters Patent N 0. 306,589, dated October 14, 1884, reissued September 1, 1885, No. 10,642. Under my said patented invention the boot or shoe upper was preliminarily provided with a series of connected loops around the edge of the. upper, and a draw-cord was passed through saidloops. The upper thus prepared was placed on the last, and the edges of the upper were then gathered and brought down in place upon the bottom of the last by pulling upon the ends of the draw-cord. Under this arrangementall portions of the edge bounded by the draw-cord were acted on simultaneously when the drawcord was pulled. In practice, however, it was found desirable to take up or gather in certain portions of that length of the edge controlled or operated on by the draw-cord in advance or independently of other portions of the same. This was particularly true of the toe portion of the upper. The draw-cord for this portion of the upper extends also along the side edges with its ends terminating at or near the shank of the upper, and in pulling the draw-cord by these ends it was found difficult to at all times properly gather in and last the toe portion, which ofcourse was the farthest removed from the point where the pull or power was applied to the draw-cord.

To obviate this difficulty and at the same time to preserve a continuous draw cord around that portion of the edge of the upper forward of the shank is mainly the object of my present improvement. To this end, after the upper is provided with adraw-cord and placed on the last, on each side of and at the desired distance back of the toe, I pull out the drawcord from the loops at those points far enough to enable me to take hold of it, and I then, by pulling on these portions of the draw-cord, draw down and properly gather in the toe portion of the upper without affecting the side edges back of the points where I take hold of the draw-cord. After having gathered in the slack ol' the cross-connected draw-cord loops and alsoto gather in and fold down upon the last the side edges of the upper. way, whilepreserving a continuous draw-cord, I gather in and last the portions of the upper more distant from the ends of the draw-cord in advance and independently of the portions of said upper whieh are nearer to said ends. By providing a crossconnection between the loops of draw-cord taken out in orderto gather in the first portion of the edge, I am enabled to better maintain that portion in its lasted and gathered-in condition whilepulling upon the ends of the draw-cord in the operation of taking up the slack and lasting the remaining portion of the'edge bounded by said cord.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented the upper in the several stages of lasting or gathering in its edges.

Figure 1 is a view of the prepared upper on the last. Fig. 2 is a view after the front portion or toe of the upper has been gathered in. Fig. 3 is a view after the opposite loops of the draw-cord used in gathering inthe front portion of the upper have been connected to gether. Fig. 4 is a view of the upper completely lasted.

The upper is shown at A and the last at B. The upper is provided around its edge with a series of connected loops, I), for reception of the draw-cord, said loops in the present instance being of the kind substantially as shown in my Letters Patent N 0. 309,440, of Becom her 16, 1884. I prefer generally to use two draw-cords, one (lettered a) for the portion of the edge of the upper in front of the shank and the other for that portion of the edge in rear of the shank.

WVhen the upper is put on the last and is ready for the lasting operation, the operation of gathering in that portion of the edge bounded by the draw-cord a is commenced by pulling out loops at of the draw-cord a on op- In this posite edges at suitable points, 0, long enough to constitute what may be termed handles, which are taken hold of and pulled so as to gather in and last the toe portion of the upper, as indicated in Fig. 2. Then, while holding the portion tight, the loops (1 are connected by being tied together by a hook or by any suitable means, as indicated in Fig. 3. Iprefer to use a metal or wire double hook, e, of the form shown. The workman then draws upon the ends a: of the draw-cord, taking up the loops (Z as faras-permitted by their crossconnection d, and also gathering in and lasting the side edges of the upper, after which the ends of the draw-cord a are tied together. This completes the operation so far as the draw-cord a is concerned, the parts after the operation is completed being as shown in Fig. 4,111 which figure also the upper is represented as it appears after the heel portion is gathered in, and, in fact, after the whole upper is lasted.

In the illustration of my improvement in the drawings the draw-cord is represented as held in position around the edge of the upper in loops, and this form of receptacle for the draw-cord I prefer because it possesses many advantages, which, however, need not be here recited. In so far however as concerns the improvement hereinbcfore described, the drawcord can be held around the edge of the upper in other known ways Without departure from the invention, and I desire to be understood as including this in my claim.

Having now described my invention and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. The hercinbefore-described improvement on that method of lasting boots and shoes in which the edge of the upper is gathered in and drawn over upon the last by means of a draw-cord around the said edge, consisting in taking out loops of the draw-cord on opposite sides of the last intermediate between the ends of said cord and the portion of the upper which it is desired to first draw in, then gathering in said portion by pulling on said loops, then connecting said loops together, and subsequently gathering in the other portion or;

portions of the upper bounded by the same draw-cord, substantially as hereinbefore set forth 2. The combination of the upper, the loops- XVILLIAM C. GROSS.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. B. KELSO, MARoELLUs BAILEY. 

